A letter in my email concerning Open Access - a subject we explored a while back - brought the subject to the forefront of my mind again; in the past it was a subject that had turned into something of a blind alley but - with changing circumstances - there might be something in it again.  FOI disclosures which appear to show that FGW dropped TransWilts improvement plans and yet were still talking to us as if they were live for this December have rather rocked my confidence in putting all my eggs in the First basket I see.

There is an excellent depot for diesel trains ON the TransWilts

We're talking at the moment with First about a service which would be operated by a train serviced in Bristol.  Well - that's better than having it serviced in Cardiff, but surely it would be better to have it done on the line?

There's a dilemma - longer route or more frequent service

There's been a question of whether the future TransWilts service should run every 2 hours (from Swindon to Westbury) or every 3 (from Swindon to Salisbury).  Of course, the ideal case would be the longer route - Swindon to Salisbury, with the higher frequency - every 2 hours.   But that would need an extra extra train - or it would until you take SWT into the formula. Look at this.

South West Trains' Southampton to Salisbury service arrives is Salisbury at 15 minutes after the hour, and return South at 48 minutes after.   If it carries on at (example) 16:15 to Swindon, arrival 17:25, departure 17:38, it will arrive back in Salisbury at 18:48 to resume its run to Southampton. Every alternate train does this; the other one simply lays over for the 33 minutes.  What do we have? A two hourly service over the whole length of the TransWilts, with just one train needed to cover the whole operation. A service operated from a depot on the line itself, so no empty running and trips being squished at the start or end of the day to get back to Bristol.  A return of the through Southampton service - it is truely amazing how many people I talk to who come from the South coast up to Chippenham / Swindon and mourn the old service

Link to the wider Open Access approach
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=677.

I was just looking at some "in principle" stuff, Lee ... choosing trains that lay over in Salisbury.  I haven't even looked at the London to Salisbury trains yet and what their layovers are. Now that would give a new through service every 2 hours from Melksham, Trowbridge, and Warminster to London.   Seeing as the census tells us that more people commute from Melksham than Westbury to London each day ... I suspect the service may get some use.

Good to see you back, Daniel;  it's been quite a summer as you'll see looking around here.   We so darned nearly got the 3 round "TransWilts" trips a day back - an IDEAL morning peak one, two during-the-day that would have been distictly useful and would have been a useful springboard and an excellent marking push, though we still had a hole at the true evening peak.  But that fell for reasons that aren't yet 100% clear to me.

With a new face at FGW,  a new face at Network Rail, and a return (tomorrow !) from secondment elsewhere of a key player at the DfT, I think we're well set for a final push for an appropriate service in what is now the foreseeable future.

I agree and while I am yet to finish an article for submission to local and national papers - if it sufficiently stokes their interest - the more letters the better. Salisbury Journal aren't great at letters on transport issues  unless it is about speed cameras, parking ambassadors or school buses. I would like to make a greater effort to recruit more south wilts support. Will what can be done when I'm less fraught.

Certainly I think it is important to keep the TransWilts issue truly 'TransWilts'.

Thank you, I will do.